COnga Micing... - Conga Micing...

[rhumbatumba]

Hello there fellow congueros... here is a topic I have not seen discussed yet (though I'm sure it has at some point in time).

For years I have run 2 SM57s 1 for the tumba since it requires its own mix and 1 for the conga & quinto.

What I have been noticing through the monitors lately (we are using in ear monitors now so I can hear MUCH better than ever before) is that if I change position (I play seated) the mic that is assigned to 2 congas sometimes stops picking up the quinto as well because I tend to move it with my body. I have also noticed that the mic assigned to the quinto sometimes picks up the low frequency of the tumba... and with the quinto's designated mix the bass is too much and honks and sustains far too much through the PA (it can be a distracting sound for the audience). Thus I have begun my mission, I need a Quinto specific mic. One with very good off axis rejection of sound (to reject the tumba sound), and one with a range that is higher than that of the SM57 also to aid in the rejection of low frequency sustain from the tumba. The trick is that I want to reject the tumba frequencies, however, I dont want to completely reject the lower tones of the quinto (i.e. Mutes, Bass tones)

I have used an Audix Fusion condenser mic in the past at a small gig (borrowed from the drummer) I noticed that it did well at picking up the quinto but did not pick up the Tumba as well. I'm thinking it might be a good mic for this, however, it is a condenser and thus it is more fragile and feeds back much easier. I am also looking at the AKG D22... its a small instrument mic with good off axis sound rejection and would be less prone to feedback, however, its sound range is similar to the 57.

What are some of you guys using, or have seen used with success?

[Thomas]

Hi rhumbatumba!
I'm using the sennheiser e904, and I'm happy with them. They are mounted on the LP mic lugs via Gibraltar rods, so they cannot move a bit and stay always were I want them to stay. I mic all my tumbadoras seperately for best results, 'cause each of them need their own settings.
Also heard the Audix D2, they sound awesome as well!
All the best,
Tom!

[bongoron]

It sounds like your setup could benefit from some compression. Does your sound person have this capability? If not, you could buy the compressor for your channel, and have them use it to smooth your mix before it hits the main mix. Our church has one compressor for the main mix, and the sound guy simply leaves me out of the monitor mix, then compresses the main mix. Maybe yours is doing the same, but your monitor mix isn't revealing that to you because it isn't compresed....that is, you might sound different in the house than in your monitor. I also don't use multiple mikes..I am pretty far to the side of our stage, and get away with a single large diaphragm condensor mike for the three drums. I am not in the monitor mix, and the mike rejects enough of the other monitors to avoid feedback problems. I use a small hotspot monitor that sits slighlty behind the line of my mike, and I don't need alot in it, so it doesn't cause feedback issues either.
God bless!

-Ron



Edited By bongoron on 1158338367

[bongoron]

In my own band, I used to use three samson r21 mikes. Now I use a single electret pleced forwrd of the quito between the other two, and my electret earset mike. Those two make it easy for our soundguy to mix my congas and vocals with the rest of the band. The earset mike is on my face and slighlty aimed at the quinto when I play. When I sing, the vocals overide the drums, as they should, and everything is cool. It just takes a good sound check to get it rung out. He doesn't need much in the quinto mike at all to get the three drums nicely because of my vocal mike. I suspect if I wer taller, this might be more difficult to mix, but probably not much. My vocals are not in the mix at church except as a faint background vocal from the one condensor mike. We have five other singers there.

God bless!

-Ron

[ABAKUA]

Hey rhumbatumba,

hope you are well...
Using the search function (top right hand corner of page) I was able to find quite a few threads covering this discussion, simply type in microphones and you get a list of threads...

Here are a few...


http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....ophones

[rhumbatumba]

Thanks Abakua... Just to let you guys know I have settled on the AKG D-22 and purchased it around lunchtime today. It should be a good mic for this situation, it is a hypercartoid like the SM57's I already own yet the low end of the frequency range cuts off around 18 where the 57 cuts off around 12, this should be perfect for the quinto while still helping to reject the lowest frequencies of the tumba pretty well.

My current pair of 57s are going to be used on my conga and Tumba.

The most interesting purchase I have made today was the Audix percussion clamp... it clamps to the lug and has a flexable metal gooseneck... it is very light and looks to be a quality piece of equipment, we shall see. I'm a big user of the old LP Claw, but, this thing look pretty neat.

[trickyricky]

Hey gang!! :;):
I just started using the LP claws (as mentioned in the last post). I heard some bad things about the claw from a kit drummer- "...it picks up noise from the frame of the drum". Have any of you had problems with the claw picking up sound from being clamped to a lug?
Thanks
rick

[Thomas]

Have any of you had problems with the claw picking up sound from being clamped to a lug?

Hi Trickyricky!
Never had any problems with mics clamped to the lug, but had problems with mics clamped to the rim, as you mentioned!
All the best, Tom!

[rhumbatumba]

Have any of you had problems with the claw picking up sound from being clamped to a lug?

Hi Trickyricky!
Never had any problems with mics clamped to the lug, but had problems with mics clamped to the rim, as you mentioned!
All the best, Tom!

Same here... when attached to the rim I get a bit of noise (very slight), tends to increase if playing on a hard surface, if I bring a thin rug it kills the noise, also playing on stands eliminates the vibration completely.

[rhumbatumba]

Report on the AKG D22.

Well the mic sounds great. I actually like it for the quinto and conga better than the 57's I currently use. I may actually sell one of my 57s and buy another D22's for use on the conga.

They are smaller which is always good, but more importantly their sound is very accurate. They are more sensitive than the 57s taking less volume and the cartoid pattern is a little tighter. The frequency response was exactly what I wanted for the quinto as well.

Anyway, good price, great mic. Still waiting on the Audix mic clip, its backordered until late this month

[bdrbongo]

I just use 2 sm57's mounted on LP claws on my tumba. Never had a problem with volume in a live situation. When recording, I like to dedicate a mic to each drum with an overhead for room sound, but that's a different can o' worms. I also use in-ears for monitors. The Claws can pick up some of the shell vibrations on my kit, but I've never had a problem with them on my tubs.

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